2016 Update with the Jansens

For those friends that we haven’t seen recently here is a quick update of the major changes Mike and I have seen in 2016.  To start we have both completely (almost) retired.  Until our first big RV trip I never considered completely retiring, at the very least I figured that I might slow down and do some consulting.  With Mike’s travel plans for the two of us that wasn’t happening and I am completely onboard with his plans.   Mike is just finishing a couple of small projects and then our job is travel and exploration.  To enable this we had to make more changes than just retiring.  Our house was much too large for my mother, who lived with us, to stay on her own for months at a time.  We have put our house up for sale, with all the staging, painting and efforts that involves.  Mum has just moved into an apartment, on her own for the first time in her life.  She is doing great.  Mike and I have bought an apartment where we can simply lock the door and leave when we want to travel.  It overlooks the Toronto skyline, Lake Ontario and the marina where we keep our boat.  The picture is our living room.  It looks better empty.  We are currently living with furniture that the stagers, the nieces and nephews, a local food bank and the church didn’t want and we don’t care.  Over the next few years, when we are home between travels, we will very slowly, get it all set up.

Here are our current plans.  We are traveling to eastern Canada this summer and fall in our RV.  Our only plan is that we want to see Labrador where we have never been, and we want to return to Newfoundland which we loved.  Based on time we expect to do some sightseeing in the Maritimes.  We have to be home, based on family and weather, by the beginning of November.  If the house was to sell and we had to come home early to move out that would be great with us.  We put air in our bike tires in early April and have used them once since them.  We are really hoping that this trip will have us out on our bikes almost every day.  That is every day when we are in flat territory, days with hilly ground are exempt.

Next spring, house sold or not, we are shipping our RV and car to Europe.  We plan on traveling around Europe for just over two years.  We will be home occasionally for Christmas and other events.  Many of the updates to our new apartment will have to wait until then.

Happy 2016.